The foil over the top traps the steam inside, helping the cake rise more evenly. You'll have about 250ml of chocolate coating left over – just the stuff for lamington milkshakes with ice-cream and coconut. Makes nine.

Line the base of a deep, 20cm square cake tin with nonstick paper and heat the oven to 170C (150C fan-assisted)/335F/gas mark 3. Put the sugar and cocoa in a bowl and beat in the milk. Melt the butter and chocolate in a saucepan, and add to the sugar mix along with the oil. Beat in the eggs until smooth, stir in the yoghurt and vanilla, and mix in the flour and baking powder. Pour into the tin, cover with a slightly domed sheet of foil and bake for an hour; lift off the foil for the last 15 minutes. Remove, cool in the tin and, while warm, cover with clingfilm to keep it moist.

For the coating, mix the cocoa and milk until smooth, whisk in the boiling water, then stir in the chocolate until melted. Whisk in the icing sugar until dissolved and pour into a deep, wide jug. Cut the cake into nine, dunk each piece in the coating and fish out with two forks. Roll in coconut and leave to set.

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water, beat in the egg and milk, then mix in the flour, sugar and salt. Add the melted butter (and dried fruit, if using), mix until evenly combined, then leave for 10 minutes. Lightly oil a 20cm patch of worktop, lightly knead the dough, return it to the bowl and leave for 10 minutes. Knead once or twice more at 10-minute intervals, then cover and leave until risen by half – about an hour. Flour the worktop, roll the dough to about 1cm thick and cover with filling: cinnamon for the fruited dough, with apple, if you like; or thickly with Vegemite and a little cheese. Roll up tightly, cut into 3cm wheels and place almost touching on a baking tray lined with nonstick paper. Cover and leave somewhere warm until almost doubled, then bake at 220C (200C fan-assisted)/425F/gas mark 7 for about 15 minutes. Finish the Vegemite ones while warm with grated cheese melted on top. For coffee scrolls, mix the icing sugar with the coffee dissolved in 25ml boiling water, brush the baked buns with a little sugar syrup and spoon over a little of the icing.